KotOR: Passion and Chaos
by LD Little Dragon
Summary: Carth knew something was wrong as soon as he got the call to report to Admiral Dodonna's office and receive his new assignment. -a Carth centric look at the events of the first KotOR - Revan/Canderous
1. Downtime

**Downtime**

Carth knew something was wrong as soon as he got the call to report to Admiral Dodonna's office and receive his new assignment. No one had to report in person for a routine assignment. _Probably going to stick me behind some desk_, he thought with a scowl as he reached for the datapad the Admiral handed him.

_Not a dirt-side assignment, at least_, he thought with some relief as he read though the datapad. His brow furrowed when he finished reading much faster than he expected. He even tried shaking the pad to see if some bug was hiding a second page.

"Is there a problem, Commander Onasi?" Admiral Dodonna asked.

"Advisor position? Under the command of the Jedi. On a classified mission. To parts unknown. This uh, isn't, that is, I thought I would be going back to the front lines with my unit."

"Are you filing a formal refusal to follow orders?"

"What? No, no, of course not. But is Command certain I'm the best man for this job? Whatever it is."

"Yes."

"And I have to go into this blind. There's nothing you can tell me about the nature of this assignment."

"Information is to be given on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know at this point."

Carth was a good soldier, but there were times he wished he could tell Command to go suck a rancor. He stood up and saluted. "I understand, Admiral. Will that be all?"

Dodonna sighed and leaned back in her chair. "No, Carth, you don't understand. Just believe me when I tell you this assignment is of the highest importance. The Jedi are up to something dangerous, and we need you to keep an eye on them."

"Yes, Admiral. Will that be all?"

"Not quite," she said. "You haven't left the base in weeks. You need to take some time off, have some fun, do something besides training and paperwork," she pulled a card out from her side pocket. "Here, this leave's on me. Take my expense card and go have some fun."

He took the card reluctantly. "Thank you, Admiral."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The music was loud, most of the patrons wore much too revealing clothes, and the drinks were flowing far too freely for his taste. He would never have come here without being ordered to. Technically he wasn't ordered to visit the cantina, but when your Fleet Commander tells you that you need some downtime, and then tells you to send her your bar tab, well, you had better have a bar tab to send her.

At least this was a cantina that catered to the military, which meant the patrons would leave him alone. Being a decorated hero of the Republic could be a pain in the ass around civilians. No one here would be rude enough to approach him asking for 'war stories'.

"Carth! Hey, you old son-of-a-zabrak!"

Well, almost no one. He knew that over loud, over cheerful voice. He'd served with Tomak years ago, even before the Mandolorian Wars. They had been through too much together for Carth to get away with ignoring the old bastard. He looked around the floor until he spotted Tomak waving at him from a table by the window.

"Carth!" Tomak said happily when he reached the table. "I didn't think you ever left the base." He stood up and grabbed Carth's arm, pulling him down into the seat beside him. "Sit down, sit down."

Tomak turned and grinned widely at the woman beside him. "We've got a genuine Hero of the Republic with us today. Drink up, and let us all rejoice at our good fortune!"

Carth groaned. "Keep it down you idiot, stop imitating a troop groupie."

"But the excitement, the wonder of it all! The great, the one and only, Carth Onasi is gracing us with his presence! This is unheard of, unprecedented, unbelievable!" Tomak winked. "Seriously, what brings you here? I can't recall the last time you did anything but work around here."

"I was ordered to take some downtime, if you must know," he grumbled. "The Admiral insisted I take her expense card, and now I have to get some credits on it. Anyone need a drink? Feel free to buy the good stuff."

"Oh, you poor man," the woman simpered, fanning herself with one hand. "The life of a soldier is truly one of hardship and despair."

Carth looked her over. Dirty blond hair, as under-dressed as the rest of the patrons, and displaying skin which carried the too smooth and too pale look of someone just out of a Kolto tank. He could see the barely visible outline of a blaster beneath her dark shirt. "And you would be?"

She leaned back and threw her arms out. "I am the best damned advance Scout in the Republic, if not the entire Galaxy! Consurralita Donazar at your service. I'm not kidding about being the best Scout ever, either. You should have seen what this nerf-head offered me to rejoin the Military. Better pay than a Grand Admiral. Between you and me, I was holding out for the offer of my own senatorial seat."

"She's exaggerating. We didn't offer her that many credits," Tomak said.

"He's trying to recruit you? What, has the Republic taken up Sith tactics? Get 'em drunk then sign 'em up?"

"I resent that," Tomak sputtered, waving a glass around. "I'm not trying to recruit Consu anymore. She doesn't want to join up, and this is me admitting it."

"He's been badgering me to re-enlist for days, ever since I got released from the hospital. Practically met me on the doorstep. It took a lot of work, but I finally got him to admit defeat. Poor guy needed a break after beating his head against the rock of Consu for so long, so I brought him here to have a little fun."

"Why won't you stay in the fleet if they need you so much?" Carth said, frowning. "The war's no where near ending, and the Republic needs all the good people it can get. If we lose this war than the Sith will plunge the Galaxy into centuries of darkness."

"Now we know why the great Carth Onasi is slumming in the Cantina," Consu said, dropping her head onto the table with an audible thump. "No more recruiting, please. I don't wanna fight, and you can't make me. There's got to be someone else you can get. I'm good, and I've been lucky a few times, but I'm not **that** good. I don't know where you guys get your info from but someone really padded my file."

"Whoa now, I'm not here to recruit you, I don't even know you! I just ..."

"Let it go, Carth," Tomak said quietly. "The Lady served her time."

"I spent more than fifteen years serving the Republic," Consu said lifting her head off the table. "On my last mission I ended up as close to death as you can get without actually crossing over. Is it that hard to understand that I woke up a little bit changed? Right now all I want to do is take some time off to have a little fun," She leaned across the table and reached for Carth's expense card. "Speaking of fun, you did mention you wanted to get some credits on this thing. You mind if I borrow it for few minutes? I'm going to go bribe the band to play something better than that head-splitting dreck that's so popular right now."

"Go ahead," Carth said.

"Want to dance?" Consu asked Tomak.

"Oh, hell, no," both Tomak and Carth replied at once. Tomak glared at Carth and then waved Consu off. "Long story, involving a horrendous incident on the dance floor that led to half a destroyed base on Telos back in our raw recruit days. You go ahead and have fun."

"Black Ops?" Carth asked, turning his head to watch Consu make her way towards the bar.

"Don't know, her file is fairly ordinary, but you know that doesn't mean anything," Tomak said. "The Jedi Council wants her for the same hush-hush mission they just roped you into; with those guys that could just mean some Knight saw a vision of Consu after breathing in some meditation fumes."

"What the hell do you know about my current mission," Carth sputtered. He looked around furtively. "And what are you doing bringing it up **here**?"

"Oh please, you think no one would notice when one of our top ships, several men and officers from various units, **and** a bunch of Jedi are being sent on a mission? Half the base knows something's up."

"I didn't know," Carth said sullenly. He leaned forwards and lowered his voice. "You wouldn't happen to have heard any rumours about the specifics of this mission, have you?"

"Sorry," Tomak said. "There's a lot of wild suggestions out there, but none you can put any credits on."

Any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of cheering coming from the bar. Carth twisted to see a crowd mobbing the bartenders. "Now what?"

"I think I heard someone yell 'drinks for everybody'," Tomak said, pointing at Consu who was now dancing on the bar while holding something over her head. Something that looked very much like the Admiral's expense card.

Carth groaned. Tomak slapped him on the back. "At least now the Admiral will believe you when you tell her you had a really good time."

"The Admiral's going to kill me," Carth said when Consu sauntered back. He snatched the expense card from her hand and glared at her.

Consu laughed and sat down in Tomak's lap. "Your friend worries too much," she said, tucking a strand of Tomak's dark hair behind his ear. "Maybe he'll lighten up when the dancers I ordered for this table get here."

"Depends if they're male or female," Tomak said.

"I ordered one of each," Consu replied.

Carth finished his drink, and watched Consu with narrowed eyes. He was trying to decide if it would do any good to scold her, when she suddenly stiffened and frowned.

"Buzz-kill alert," Consu said, hooking an arm possessively around Tomak.

"What?" Tomak said looking around. He spotted three brown-robed Jedi heading their way. "Oh, not to worry, I know Master Kavar and he's one of the better Jedi, he comes by every once and a while and tries to drink me under the table."

"Evening, Master Kavar," Tomak said when the Jedi reached their table. "Care to join us for a drink?"

"Not tonight, Tomak," Kavar said sorrowfully. "This is business."

"I knew it!" Consu groaned.

"Huh, looks like buzz-kill was the right word," Tomak muttered.

Kavar sat down and smiled brightly at the scowling Consu. "We just want to talk to you, that's all. I'm not sure you understand just how much the Republic needs good Scouts like you."

"I don't think you people understand the meaning of the word no. No, I'm not rejoining. No, I don't care how 'invaluable my expertise is'. No, I don't want to talk anymore. No, I'm not going to stop myself from shooting the next idiot who tries to recruit me."

"Come now, we just want to talk. There's no harm in talking is there?" Kavar said softly. "I'm sorry for ruining your evening, but I'm sure you won't mind giving us a couple hours of your time."

Consu blinked, and then smiled at Kavar. "I ... I suppose I could give you a couple hours of my time. There's no harm in talking." She kissed Tomak lightly, and then stood up and sighed. "Sorry I have to cut this short, Tomak, we should do this again sometime. And it was nice meeting you, Carth."

"What just happened?" Carth asked Tomak as he watched Consu leave with the Jedi Master.

Tomak sighed. "Damn Jedi and their holostar looks. There goes my date for the evening," he signalled the waitress over. "Want another drink?"

"Make it a double."


	2. Assignment: Endar Spire

**Assignment: Endar Spire**

Assignment: the Endar Spire

Mission Leader: Bastila, Jedi Knight

Destination: Classified

Objective: Classified

It had been more than a week since the Endar Spire left orbit, and Carth still had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. So far his Advisor position seemed to consist of nothing else but sitting at the Captain's table and smiling at the other officers and at the Jedi assigned to the ship.

Carth had no doubts about the importance of the mission. It was being led by the legendary Bastila, master of Battle Meditation, after all. What Carth doubted was his importance to the mission. He was not used to being left out of the command structure and was beginning to feel more than a little useless. Bastila refused to discuss anything important with him and the Captain had threatened to throw him in the brig the last time Carth tried to get information about the mission from him.

With no official duties to attend do, Carth ended up spending most of his days on the blaster range, working out his frustrations on one target after another. That is, he had been spending most of his days on the range. Today the Warrant Officer in charge of the Armoury had kicked him out with the excuse that they had run out of target droids.

_Ran out of target droids, right. Translation: Get off my range, you crazy bastard, you're starting to scare the troops,_ Carth thought shaking his head at the memory of the carefully expressionless face the officer had maintained while blocking the door to the range.

This had brought him to his current spot; hunched over a desk in the ship's library. Carth thought spending a couple of days reading would make him look harmless enough that he could get back on the range again.

"You through with that datacard?"

"Almost," Carth said absently, and then looked up. "Consu Donazar, right? I was surprised to see your name on the crew manifest."

"Not as surprised as I was," she said ruefully. "One minute I'm a free woman, and the next Kavar's looking at me with those gorgeous big blue eyes and I'm cheerfully signing enlistment papers. Instead of deserting, I reported for duty and ended up here."

"All for the best, soldier," he said. "The ...

"Republic needs me. Yeah, I know. Spare me the pep talk and hand me that card."

"You don't need this card, it's just a level one security handbook," he said. "I thought I'd brush up on my basic skills while we're in transit."

"That's what I'm doing," she said.

"Your file says you're a tenth level security expert," he said, looking at her with a frown.

"And a twelfth level computer expert, I know," Consu said, rolling her eyes. "I hope no one's expecting me to do any hacking on this run. Since most of my technical skills floated away in that Kolto Tank along with half my memories."

_Half her memories? What the hell? _Carth studied Consu and thought she looked serious. "Are you telling me," he said slowly. "That you still haven't recovered from your injuries?"

"Oh, I'm recovered," she said cheerfully. "As good as ever, according to Medical. Just missing a few memories here and there. It's really strange. I can remember escorting a strike force against a Mandalorian base on Althir. I can remember infiltrating that base, bypassing all their security systems, and reprogramming half their droids before they realized something was wrong, but I can't for the life of me remember **how** I did any of this. Right now I can't even crack the lock on my own footlocker."

"And Command knows about your ... technical difficulties?"

"They have to; it's in my medical files."

"Then why the hell are you on this mission!" he exclaimed, slamming the datapad down on the desk.

"I don't know, guess the Republic's just really desperate," Consu said, snatching up the pad and deftly sliding out the datacard. She dropped his pad back on the table and grinned. "Makes you wonder if we lost the war, and they just haven't gotten around to telling us, doesn't it?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They finally let Carth back on the blaster range, with the provision that he spend no more than two hours a shift there. That still left him a lot of time to wander the corridors glaring at all the people who had jobs to do. This was why he was thrilled to finally be summoned to Bastila's office.

"You wanted to see me, Jedi Bastila?" Carth said eagerly as soon as she let him into her office.

"Yes, I need your help," she said.

"Regarding the mission?" he asked hopefully. "You realized I can't advise you properly unless I know something about our goals?

"Hmm, no," she said, stepping away from Carth and eyeing him warily. "I need your help with the Captain. He's being very stubborn about implementing changes to the way he runs this ship."

"He's probably just being stubborn because **it's his ship**," Carth said, feeling his excitement drain away. _Maybe there is no mission, and Command's just playing some galactic size joke on me?_

"Haven't you noticed the appalling lack of discipline on this ship?" she asked.

"The only thing I've noticed is that no one seems to know what the hell we're doing out here," he said, grinding his teeth together. "I'm a soldier and I follow orders, but it's nice to actually **have** orders to follow."

"There see!" Bastila said, pointing a finger at Carth. "That's what I'm talking about, you have no discipline, no control, and you let your emotions run rampant, and the crew are even worse! There's something wrong on this ship, and it's starting to affect everyone; we need to put a stop to it! I spoke to the Captain about implementing new regulations regarding acceptable behaviour on this ship, and he was unbelievably rude. I almost had him arrested for insubordination." She headed over to the viewscreen and turned it around to face Carth. "Come see what's going on in the recreation room. Just look at that!"

Carth looked, but could not understand what was upsetting the Jedi. He saw a couple of the crew watching a holomovie, a few more playing a game of darts, and a large group of them playing a pazaak tournament. No one was fighting, or getting upset, in fact they all seemed to be having a good time. He even spotted one of the Jedi off in the corner having a drink with a crewman. Carth took a deep breath and then turned to Bastila. "Alright, I'm perfectly calm and I'm happy even though I have no idea what our mission is. Now, you want to tell me what's upsetting you about the crew?"

"Can't you see what they're doing?" Bastila said as one of the pazaak players stood up and pulled his shirt off.

Carth took another look and saw that most of the pazaak players were in various states of undress. He tilted the camera view and recognized Consu at one of the tables. He was a bit disappointed to see she still had most of her clothes on. "Strip pazaak. Looks like fun."

"She, I mean they, do that sort of thing all the time!" Bastila said, waving her arms in emphasis. "And some of them end up pairing up and leaving together. We're in the middle of a war and the crew is spending all of their energy on mindless entertainment and primitive mating rituals! It's ... it's animalistic!"

"I thing a better word would be human," he said, starting to smile. "You haven't worked with non-Jedi very much, have you? Outside of combat, I mean."

"I admit I have spent most of my life in secluded training with my Masters," Bastila answered, with a hint of irritation in her voice. She lifted her chin and stared defiantly at him. "But I had the best instructors the Council could provide, and I am more than capable of dealing with this command."

The Jedi who was officially his commanding officer suddenly looked very young to Carth. _This is the last best Hope of the Republic? I really hope the crew don't find out Bastila is greener than an ensign just out of the Academy._

"What exactly," Carth said slowly. "Do you think the crew should do with their off-duty hours?"

"Meditate, study, exercise, preferably something that calms the emotions, rather than inflames them."

Carth started laughing.

"I am being serious," Bastila said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Too much emotion can be dangerous."

"If you're a **Jedi**."

"It is always tempting to give in to our baser emotions, but we must resist such dark desires."

"I'm sure that's true for **Jedi**."

"Strong feelings, anger, passion, jealousy, lust; they must not be embraced but instead controlled and mastered."

"Only for you **Jedi**," Carth growled, fearlessly indulging in some of those baser emotions. "Stop thinking of your training and trying to treat everyone like Jedi. Believe me, if you try to interfere with the crew's harmless pastimes, and I do mean harmless, you'll be one step away from a mutiny."

"That's what the Captain said," Bastila said.

"Well then, for the sake of your Force, would you listen to him? You deal with your Jedi however you see fit, and let the Captain deal with his people."

Her shoulders slumped and she looked at the viewscreen again with bewilderment. "Are you sure this is normal?"

"Yes," Carth drawled. "Maybe if you don't trust us non-Jedi, you should talk with your fellow Knights. I'll wager most of them could tell you a thing or two about life outside the Jedi ranks."

"But it's so difficult dealing with all these uncontrolled emotions," Bastila said sadly, waving her hand at the scene in the rec room which she was once again watching with wide eyes.

_What did I do to piss off Command and get assigned here?_ Carth walked over to the viewscreen and turned it off. "Problem solved. Now, unless you have something relevant to discuss, something regarding the incredibly secret mission, I'll be leaving now."

Bastila buried her face in her hands. "I wish the bond could be turned off as easily as that viewscreen," she whispered.

"Bond?" Carth repeated. "What bond?"

"Nothing you need be concerned about," Bastila said, looking up and speaking in her normal voice again.

"I don't want to know, forget I asked," he said, throwing up his hands defensively and backing away from her.

"Thank you for your time, Commander Onasi, that will be all for now."

Carth grimaced, saluted half-heartedly, and then turned to leave.

"One moment," Bastila said. "About this mission, I know why the Admiralty insisted we take you with us."

"Then you know more than I do," he said.

"Do you mean that? But I thought ..."

"Thought what?"

She looked to one side and bit her lower lip. "This is a dangerous mission and in case in all goes wrong ... what were your orders?"

"Report to the Endar Spire, and advise the Jedi Bastila."

"That's it? Nothing about carrying out an execution if necessary to protect the Republic?"

"What! I'm a pilot, not an, an assassin. What the hell kind of mission is this?"

"Never mind," she said, sitting down and waving him away. "Just go."

_Aw, crap, don't tell me the Jedi are messing with sith artifacts again. What it is with Jedi and flirting with the dark side? Still, if she already thinks I'm assassin, may as play along._ "Just so you know, Jedi Bastila. I'm no assassin but if you start to go all sith-like on me, then I'll be more than happy to use you for blaster practice."

"Thank you," she said, with no hint of irony in her voice. "I appreciate the thought."

_You do?_ "Anything to help," he said, before saluting smartly and walking away from the crazy Jedi.


	3. Situation Normal

**Situation Normal**

Humming tunelessly to himself, Carth leaned against the wall and watched the serving droid approaching the lift to the bridge. Just as it reached the lift doors, he stepped out and blocked its way. "I'll take that, you go on back to the officer's mess, they could use your help there." The little droid rocked back and forth, apparently agitated at giving up it's tray of caffa, but it just let off one sad little beep when Carth lifted off the tray and then rolled back the way it came.

"Who ordered the caf?" Carth asked as he strolled onto the bridge bearing the tray. The Captain turned to him and frowned. "They're really swamped down at the mess," Carth said with a shrug.

"Have you no respect for your rank?" The Captain hissed when Carth approached him.

"No caf for you?"

The Captain covered his eyes briefly with one hand and then snapped his fingers at Carth. "Fine, I'll take one with cream, no sugar, and don't expect a tip, boy."

Carth handed the caffa over with a small grin, and then moved through the bridge dispensing caffa to several nervous looking crewmen until his tray was empty. Once he was finished he dropped the tray on the console by the lift and wandered over to side to watch the viewport. There wasn't much to see in hyperspace, but he found the chaotic lightshow outside both familiar and exciting in its ever-changing appearance.

The Captain stood up and walked over to stand beside him. "You don't need an excuse to come to the bridge."

"No, Captain, but it makes me feel a bit less like a civilian tourist to actually do something."

The Captain nodded in agreement. "I understand, but you're scaring the youngsters. They're not sure if they should salute you, or call for the medics."

Carth waved at a couple of the junior officers who were looking his way. They quickly turned back to their console displays. "They'll get over it. While I'm here, I should warn you; the Jedi in the mess were bitching about a change in orders. Bastila was mumbling something about being calm and serene, but it sure didn't seem to be working."

"I'm not surprised," The Captain said. "Our side mission's been put on hold. We've been ordered to join up with a Battle Group for an engagement."

"Back to normal fleet activities," Carth said.

"As normal as any battle ever is," the Captain agreed.

"Need an extra fighter pilot?" Carth asked, knowing the answer already.

The Captain laughed. "You're a little past those days, Onasi. That's what you get for accepting so many promotions. You're welcome to stay on the bridge, but please, no backseat piloting on my watch."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They never made it to their rendezvous point. One minute they were cruising through hyperspace, and the next the ship lurched and shook as they were wrenched back into normal space. The missiles pounded into and around the ship as alarms filled the bridge with their sharp warning blasts. Carth picked himself up off the floor and stole a quick glance out the viewport. He saw what looked like two Sith battleships outside before he turned and surveyed the damage to the bridge. He spotted one lieutenant with an arm dangling uselessly who was trying to work a communications console. He sent the injured officer to the back of the bridge to wait for the medics and took over his post.

The Captain's voice carried over the constant banging and rattling as the ship rocked under the barrage of missiles. "Evasive maneuvers get us out of here!"

"Trying sir, but we're boxed in," the helmsman responded. "We can't get clear to enter a hyperspace window."

"What the hell is out there? Weapons keep firing; try to clear a path to the port side. And scramble the fighters."

"Eight fighters made it out of the launch bays," Carth said. "They were all destroyed; the enemy have us surrounded."

"It's a Sith Battle Fleet," the young ensign at tactical reported. "They have us surrounded."

"They were waiting for us," someone said. "I think they pulled us out of hyperspace"

"We've just lost sub-space thrusters," Carth said, relaying a report from Engineering.

"Sith are boarding through the aft cargo holds."

"We've lost the port side barracks."

"Order all hands to fall back to the bridge," the Captain said to Carth. "We'll try to hold them off here."

"What is that damned Jedi doing?" The Captain asked after Carth relayed his orders to the crew.

Carth turned to see Bastila and one of her Knights had made it to the bridge sometime during the battle. The Knight was standing guard over Bastila who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed. As Carth watched she jerked back, looking as though she had been punched by an invisible fist. "I think she's trying to do that Battle Meditation thing."

"Well it's not working! We're losing this fight, and losing it fast."

Carth turned back to the reports streaming across his display. "Sith are battling their way through the engine deck, they've almost breached the crew deck."

Only two crewmen made it to the bridge to bolster their defences.

"We can't hold them off, Captain. The Sith are pouring in faster than we can track them."

"Onasi!"

"Captain?"

"Get Bastila out of here. This ship is lost and we can't let the Sith get her alive. I'm ordering you to get her to the escape pods and off this ship. We'll give you two minutes and then I'm giving the general order to abandon ship."

Carth stood up and approached the two Jedi. "Time to get your boss out of here."

"It's dangerous to disturb Bastila when she's meditating," the Jedi guarding Bastila said.

"More dangerous not to disturb her," Carth said. "Hey, sleeping beauty, time to go," he shook Bastila lightly, and then a bit harder when she didn't respond.

"No, I can do this, I just need to ..."

"It's over," he said. "We've been boarded, and no amount of Jedi magic tricks can help one lone cruiser fight off an entire Sith Fleet. Let's go."

"Where is crewman Donazar?" Bastila asked.

"How the hell would I know?" Carth said. "Probably dead, or soon to be dead like everyone else on this ship. You're the only one they want alive."

"Dead is unfortunate, but acceptable," Bastila said as she grabbed the edge of the desk and dragged herself up to a standing position. "Very well, lead the way." She took two steps forwards and then stumbled.

Carth grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. She let out a tiny little squeak of protest when he started carrying her out the door. "I can walk," she protested.

"No time!" he grunted. He was starting to regret spending all that time practicing with his blaster. _Should have spent more time in the weight room. Jedi's heavier than she looks._

"I can take her," the Jedi said, stepping forwards to take Bastila from Carth.

"You take point and make sure our path is clear," Carth ordered. "Head straight for the escape pods, we're getting off this ship. Go, now."

The Jedi made no more protests as he switched on his lightsaber and advanced down the corridor.

Carth raced down the corridor heading towards the escape pods. Dimly, as though they were sounding from a great distance away, he heard the blaring alarms and the Captain ordering all hands to abandon ship. Sliding around the corner he nearly ran into the Jedi who had stopped and put one arm up to block Carth's path.

"Ow," Bastila said as Carth dropped her. She looked over at the Jedi and tilted her head to one side asking a silent question.

"The Sith are here. There's at least six of them up the corridor to the left," he answered.

"I'll distract them, you get Bastila to the pods," Carth said, pulling out his blaster and stepping into sith-infested corridor, moving before the Jedi had a chance to stop him. He shot once without aiming and then turned and barrelled down the corridor. He wasn't sure if the Sith were following or not, all he could hear was the pounding of his own feet. The whine of laser shots hissed past him as he ran. It took him a few seconds to realize the shots were coming from in front of him, and not from behind him. He saw four red blurs as some crewman passed by him and finished off the troopers. He leaned against the wall and struggled to catch his breath.

"Are you all right, sir?" one blond crewman with a thin stream of blood running down his face asked.

"Fine," Carth said, straightening up. "Keep moving, we have to get off this ship."

"Yes, sir, we figured that out already," the crewman said, shouldering his blaster rifle and gesturing at Carth to move ahead of him.

They reached the starboard escape pod bay with no further incidents. Once there, Carth saw his escort off, and then cursed when he saw there was only one pod left. Resigned to waiting for any stragglers, he headed for the console. Keeping one screen always on the outside corridor to watch for approaching Sith, Carth scanned the ship for any republic comlinks still transmitting. It seemed every time he found a survivor, they blinked off the map. Just little red dots disappearing one by one. Some he could put faces to, but others were just names blinking off on the screen - Calris, Maas, Vandeeli, Colt, Antilla, Dondel, Ulgo - eventually there was only left - Donazar.

"Haul ass, Consu, or I'm leaving without you," Carth barked into his communicator when he saw the last friendly red dot pausing just down the corridor.

"Haul ass?" Consu gasped when she stumbled through the door moments later, one leg sporting a hastily tied bandage. "What do you think I was doing? Stopping to do my nails?"

"Get in the pod," he said, placing one hand on her back and shoving her through the hatch. He followed right after her. "I'll drive."

"I'll just pass out, if that's alright with you," Consu said.

He punched the launch button as he was struggling to lock in his safety belt. There wasn't really much piloting involved, about all Carth could do was point the pod in the direction of the planet and let gravity take over once the ship entered the planet's atmosphere._ It had to be Taris, what I wouldn't give for a nice farming world right now. What am I supposed to do? Aim for a soft building? _Carth hunched in his seat as the ship plowed through the skies, when the lights from the planet began to change from one big mass to a series of little dots, he started braking. He was still pushing the brake button even after the pod had bounced and rolled to a screeching halt.

Carth sat up and took a deep breath. _Still alive, fantastic. Still alive, on a planet surrounded by a Sith battle fleet. Not so fantastic._ He snapped off his restraints and went to check on Consu. He could not wake her up, but at least she was breathing normally. He hunted under the seat for the first aid kits that were in every escape pod, shoved them into his pockets and then unbuckled her from her restraints and started dragging her out the hatch. "Sorry, Consu, but I've got to move you. No telling when the Sith will come looking for us. It would be really great if you woke up now."

She didn't wake up, not that Carth had really expected her to. He paused when he reached the street and shuddered when he saw how close the pod had come to plummeting down to the lower depths of the city. He could see some shadows moving though the windows of nearby buildings, but no one had yet come out to investigate the crash. It was a pretty good sign that the Sith had taken control of Taris. There's nothing like an occupation to make fear override normal curiosity.

_First, get out of the street and as far away from here as possible._ Carth sighed and lifted Consu onto his shoulders. _Carth Onasi, rescuer of damsels in distress. They look so much lighter in the holomovies_. He had only walked about half the width of the street when an airspeeder flew over his head, and dropped down right in front of him. After placing Consu on the ground, he reached for his blaster and trained it on the speeder.

"Put that down," the driver said in slightly accented basic. As he stepped closer, Carth saw that he was a Duros. No uniform that he could see and no visible weapons. "You are Republic, yes?"

"Keep those hands where I can see them," Carth said. "Anyone else with you?"

"I am Baliss, and I am on your side," the Duros said rapidly. "The Sith will be here soon. You come with me, and I can help you hide from them."

"How do I know you're not working for the Sith?"

"If I am a Sith agent then you're already finished," Baliss said, sounding a little irritated. "Look, you can try to carry your female and hope the Sith are incredibly stupid and can't follow your sooty footprints, or you can get in my speeder and I can get you away from this crash site."

_That's just what a Sith agent would say, but he's right. I don't have a lot of options here, and that pod's sending up a smoke signal that even a recruit fresh off the farm wouldn't miss seeing. Be nice to the stranger, he could be telling the truth. Besides, I can always shoot him if he does land us in a nest of Sith_. Carth gave his potential rescuer a broad smile and holstered his blaster. "Well, when you put it that way. Thanks for your help."


End file.
